Marriage Equality canvas set for SGV this Sunday

In one of Chal Pivik’s posts on the efforts to repeal Prop 8 I chimed in the comments that I’d post specifics of things that are happening in the SGV to move the project along. For those of you not keeping count Prop 8 passed easily in my corner of LA despite the efforts of many to encourage a “no” vote.

My wife and I will again be talking with the neighbors regarding the need to have Equal Marriage rights. Our first chance is coming up this weekend as Equality California is having a canvas of Glendale and Pasadena this weekend (Sunday July 26). The canvas will involve going door to door talking with people regarding the need for Marriage Equality. They need more volunteers to be able to saturate the area.

Our opponents are relentless in their attacks on LGBT equality; they are now hiring field organizers who will be spreading lies and tapping into people’s fears. They are organizing against the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.

But we have an advantage: when we share our personal stories with people on how the freedom to marry affects our day-to-day lives, they change their minds.

For example, we were canvassing in South Los Angeles last weekend, and a woman we met told us she had voted against marriage for same-sex couples. But she was taken aback by the story a volunteer told her of how his sister cancelled her engagement because she knew her brother would not be allowed to participate in the same ritual after the passage of Prop 8. She understood why his sister would want all the same opportunities extended to her brother and promised to support marriage for same-sex couples in the future.

Please join us for our next door-to-door outreach opportunity in the Pasadena/Glendale area.

This will be our first evening door-to-door canvass, and we need you to make it a success. The last time we canvassed in Pasadena/Glendale we were able to have 400 one-on-one conversations-many of whom became more supportive. During our most recent door-to-door outreach in South LA we were able to have 500 one-on-one conversations. Let’s keep this momentum going and have as many conversations as possible to win marriage back.